(d) information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (including your name and email address);

(e) information that you provide to us when using the services on our website, or that is generated in the course of the use of those services (including the timing, frequency and pattern of service use;

(f) information relating to any purchases you make of our goods / services / goods and/or services or any other transactions that you enter into through our website (including your name, address, telephone number, email address and card details;

(g) information that you post to our website for publication on the internet (including your user name, your profile pictures and the content of your posts);

(h) information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including the communication content and meta data associated with the communication);

(i) any other personal information that you choose to send to us; and

2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.

Using your personal information

3.1 Personal information submitted to us through our website will be used for the purposes specified in this policy or on the relevant pages of the website.

(h) send you email notifications that you have specifically requested;

(i) send you our email newsletter, if you have requested it (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require the newsletter);

(j) send you marketing communications relating to our business or the businesses of carefully-selected third parties which we think may be of interest to you, by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications);

(k) provide third parties with statistical information about our users (but those third parties will not be able to identify any individual user from that information);

(l) deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to our website;

(m) keep our website secure and prevent fraud;

(n) verify compliance with the terms and conditions governing the use of our website (including monitoring private messages sent through our website private messaging service);

3.3 If you submit personal information for publication on our website, we will publish and otherwise use that information in accordance with the licence you grant to us.

3.4 Your privacy settings can be used to limit the publication of your information on our website, and can be adjusted using privacy controls on the website.

3.5 We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.

3.6 All our website financial transactions are handled through our payment services provider, Paypal. You can review the provider's privacy policy at https://www.paypal.com/gr/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full. We will share information with our payment services provider only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments you make via our website, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.

Disclosing personal information

4.1 We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.

4.2 We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.

4.3 We may disclose your personal information:

(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;

(b) in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;

(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);

(d) to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset that we are (or are contemplating) selling; and

(e) to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information.

4.4 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.

International data transfers

5.1 Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy.

5.2 Information that we collect may be transferred to the following countries which do not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the European Economic Area: the United States of America, Russia, Japan, China and India.

5.3 Personal information that you publish on our website or submit for publication on our website may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.

5.4 You expressly agree to the transfers of personal information described in this Section 5.

Retaining personal information

6.1 This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.

6.2 Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

6.3 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:

(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;

(b) if we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and

(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).

Security of your personal information

7.1 We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.

7.2 We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers.

7.3 All electronic financial transactions entered into through our website will be protected by encryption technology.

7.4 You acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

7.5 You are responsible for keeping the password you use for accessing our website confidential; we will not ask you for your password (except when you log in to our website).

Amendments

8.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

8.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.

8.3 We may notify you of changes to this policy [by email or through the private messaging system on our website.

Your rights

9.1 You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to:

(a) the payment of a fee (currently fixed at GBP 10); and

(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity (for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address).

9.2 We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.

9.3 You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.

9.4 In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.

Third party websites

10.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.

10.2 We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.

Updating information

11.1 Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.

Part 2: Cookies

About cookies

1.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

1.2 Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

1.3 Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

1.4 Cookies can be used by web servers to identity and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website.

Our cookies

2.1 We use only both session and persistent cookies on our website.

2.2 The names of the cookies that we use on our website, and the purposes for which they are used, are set out below:

(a) we use session cookie on our website to recognise a computer when a user visits the website and track users as they navigate the website;

(b) we use secure cookie on our website to prevent fraud and improve the security of the website;

(c) Persistent cookies will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date;

Analytics cookies

3.1 We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website.

3.2 Our analytics service provider generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies.

3.3 The analytics cookies used by our website have the following names: _utma, _utmt, _utmb, _utmc, _utmv and _utmz

3.4 The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website.

(a) in Internet Explorer (version 10) you can block cookies using the cookie handling override settings available by clicking "Tools", "Internet Options", "Privacy" and then "Advanced";

(b) in Firefox (version 24) you can block all cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options", "Privacy", selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, and unticking "Accept cookies from sites"; and

(c) in Chrome (version 29), you can block all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Content settings", and then selecting "Block sites from setting any data" under the "Cookies" heading.

5.2 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

5.3 If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.

Deleting cookies

6.1 You can delete cookies already stored on your computer; for example:

(a) in Internet Explorer (version 10), you must manually delete cookie files (you can find instructions for doing so at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835);

(b) in Firefox (version 24), you can delete cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options" and "Privacy", then selecting "Use custom settings for history", clicking "Show Cookies", and then clicking "Remove All Cookies"; and

(c) in Chrome (version 29), you can delete all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Clear browsing data", and then selecting "Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data" before clicking "Clear browsing data".

6.2 Deleting cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.

Cookie preferences

7.1 You can manage your preferences relating to the use of cookies on our website by visiting: controls below

Part 3: Our details

Data protection registration

1.1 We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

Our details

2.1 This website is owned and operated by Focus Reports Ltd.

2.2 We are registered in England and Wales under registration number 7676770, and our registered office is at Lynton House, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LT, United Kingdom.

2.3 You can contact us by writing to the business address given above, by using our website contact form or by telephone on +441707828754.

Interview

Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, CEO of Qatar Development Bank

The CEO of QDB discusses the role that the development bank is playing in helping the country to reach the objectives laid out in the Qatar National Vision 2030.

You have a very interesting mandate as a bank, which is to support Qatar in an area that is a critical part of the country’s National Development Strategy: building a flourishing private sector and a network of small businesses in the country. How exactly have you approached this mandate so far?

Our mandate reflects Qatar’s commitment to develop the private sector, as it strongly believes that SMEs constitute the very foundation of a diversified and sustainable economy. This is in line with the objectives of the National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2011-2016, which aim to develop the private sector as the driving engine for sustainable economic development.

For several years, the biggest challenge that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) faced, despite their proven effectiveness in supporting domestic economies and spurring job creation, was ‘the missing middle’ – the lack of financing. In its recent report “Financial Access and Stability: A Road Map for the Middle East and North Africa,” published in November 2013, the World Bank states that in the Middle East region “many important segments, such as small and medium enterprises, remain deprived of credit, and alternatives to bank finance are generally lacking, even for larger enterprises.” Therefore, Qatar’s strategy to support SMEs is to embed entrepreneurs into international value chains, set national frameworks that help them to be part of upcoming mega-projects like the FIFA World Cup 2022 and boost the competitiveness of Qatar’s SMEs.

A strategic player in this transformation is Qatar Development Bank (QDB), which is focused on diversifying the Qatari economy by promoting and strengthening private sector development in a variety of business sectors. In doing so, QDB supports the local entrepreneurs in a number of ways, including two different loan schemes Direct Lending and Al Dhameen Loan Guarantee Program. Our Direct Lending and Al Dhameen programs provide financial aid to private sector start-ups and established companies by offering competitive financing terms. Direct loans, both conventional and Islamic, are offered through project financing facilities (long-term) and raw material facilities (short-term). Our Al-Dhameen program guarantees loans to private sector companies through a number of partner commercial banks.

Of course, at QDB we recognize that starting a business requires more than just funding, which is why we also provide a non-financing support to SMEs through our advisory services to help identify and nurture promising businesses. Once businesses are mature and ready to start exporting, our export arm Tasdeer offers financial solutions, credit insurances and advisory services in addition to support in developing SME export capabilities through export development and promotion

What have been the biggest challenges of helping to establish such a culture of entrepreneurship in Qatar?

In my view, the biggest challenge to develop a culture of entrepreneurship in Qatar is lack of entrepreneurial ecosystem, especially the one focusing on youth and early stage entrepreneurs. In order address this challenge, QDB:

Offers training for entrepreneurs on how to start business and establish industrial projects;

Developed SME ToolKit to act as a single source for essential knowledge and information;

Established and maintains ongoing collaboration with various local stakeholders (e.g., Bedaya, QBIC) to develop the right mindset to shape entrepreneurial culture among youth; awareness campaigns

Our recently established Qatar Business Incubation Center offers full spectrum of business incubation services to offer handholding support for entrepreneurs. On May 26, 2014 we have announced the first batch of projects to be incubated at QBIC

How do you balance financing national development programs while maintaining a strong capital position? What is the risk profile of your current portfolio?

At QDB we realize that we have a special responsibility to shore up the financing to sectors where commercial lending is either not readily available or is available at stringent terms. The fact that we are specifically interested in start up projects, which are considered to be riskier, makes us consciously take more credit risk than other players in the industry. The model that we have adopted is to take conscious risk decisions by defining a relatively higher risk appetite for approvals without compromising on the credit due diligence and risk analysis. In fact we have adopted some of the stringent credit risk evaluation standards in the industry, which include an objective risk rating model developed internally based on our own experience, inherent and residual risk analysis, separate due diligence on construction and machinery part of the project and other similar measures

With regard to our risk profile, I would like to highlight that being a development bank we have to be long on risk. However, in doing so, we have been able to control the risk within the target risk tolerance levels. Our NPLs are in the lower band of development banking industry averages and the absolute loss on any lending is close to nil. We have achieved this by being very proactive when it comes to risk management be it at the origination or administration stage. We monitor our portfolio from the day one and have implemented a comprehensive and robust risk-based loan review mechanism where we capture problems in our funding much before they become stressed. For managing our problem loans, we were able to weave together an effective distressed asset management mechanism where we leverage on our integrated business lines of Advisory, Tasdeer and Business Intelligence. Together we strive to see the ways and means of how business could be turned around.

The fact that our performance is measured by the number of successful businesses we helped to create allows us to take a different perspective on our lending relationships. It is this perspective that drives our lending philosophy and I am glad that we have been doing good and expect to do even better in the coming years.

The government’s diversification strategy starts from the move of focus from upstream to downstream in the oil and gas sector, and the creation of a solid petrochemicals industry. This sector requires heavy investment – how much of a priority is it for you and where are your areas of focus here?

Given our mandate, we are not directly involved in financing of projects in the upstream oil and gas sector. However, through our collaboration with key industry players we are promoting greater engagement of the local SMEs in their supply chain.

For example, through our ongoing collaboration with Shell, we promote local SMEs through offering them with financing and non-financing support in order to build their capacity and skills, and help them enter Shell’s supply chain. Our primary role is to identify and promote the Shell’s supply chain opportunities that may be localized. By building bridges between energy giant and local aspiring entrepreneurs, we help build the local midstream and downstream industries, upgrade capacity of local SMEs and ensure greater sustainability of Shell’s supply chain.

We have also carried out a detailed study of potential industrial verticals that may be viable in Qatar. Our study identified 5 petrochemical related verticals and 6 knowledge based verticals. While the petrochemical subsectors already have natural owners in Qatar, we strongly believe that the oil and gas sector is an important vertical for the development of Qatar. Therefore, we are ready to build on this strength by supporting projects in the midstream to downstream.

How much space is there for international companies in a development strategy that focuses on the creation of home grown entrepreneurs?

Promotion of home grown entrepreneurs is one of the critical enablers of our National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2011-2016. Being an open economy and with a high ratio of expat population living and working in Qatar, there is a strong appreciation of importance of attracting the international companies in order to build a more competitive and knowledge based economy.

As such, and in order to attract the international companies, Qatar offers a wide range of incentives, including subsidized or nominal rates for gas and electricity, no import duty on machinery, equipment and spare parts for industrial projects, tax exemptions on corporate tax for pre-determined periods and no export duty among others. Other benefits include tax free salaries, excellent medical and educational facilities and state-of-the-art telecommunication facilities.

We at QDB are ready to welcome and assist international companies that wish to expand or establish a business venture in Qatar through linking them to other government agencies and private sector organizations in order to help make an informed decision regarding the investment prospects in Qatar.

QDB has already come so far to adapt to Qatar’s growth and focus –to what extent will you look at the world’s other development banks as models to follow?

I am a firm believer in importance of learning from good practices. Therefore, at QDB, we constantly benchmark our activities and performance with several regional and multilateral development institutions.

We have already initiated a dialogue with some of them to share insights on how to address major strategic and operational challenges, review level of financial targets and KPIs, discuss capabilities and performance requirements, products and services, opportunities for refinement and so forth.

Looking at international examples, allows us to learn not only from successes of other development institutions but also from their failures, and helps us understand where we stand in the industry, and how we can improve our services to the local business community.

To read more articles and interviews from Qatar, and to download the latest free report on the country, click here.

Facts & Figures

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